Budget walking travel guide

Historic mule trails thread through the terraced hillsides of Kynthos, Greece. After a little clearing and a bit of mapping, they’ve proved to be excellent, ready-made hiking paths. The trails follow the traditional Cycladic drystone walls, so damage to the landscape is minimal. Eat in a local tavern at the end of the day and you’ve got yourself a really good value, low-impact vacation.

You’ll find that the best budget walking vacations tread very lightly, not just in Greece, but around the world. In Croatia, you can get from island to island on the local ferry. On the Amalfi Coast, you’ll be hopping aboard the local bus. In Catalonia, you can buy local provisions from a farmer’s market before your coastal walk. Want to know a convenient truth? Going on a budget walking vacation might be better for the environment – as well as your wallet.

... you want constant creature comforts. Accommodation doesn’t have to be pricy to be cosy, but during the day you’ll be out in the open, with hot sun, or sudden rain. And, yes, you might get sore feet.

One of the best ways to find a budget trip is to use a vacation company based in the destination you want to visit. These specialists normally have far fewer overheads than an international business. Going direct to a smaller company cuts out the middle men, and these savings can be passed directly on to you, as some of our previous travelers explain below.

Seeking some Adriatic inspiration, Philip Jeffrey booked a self guided Croatia coast walking tour through a Dubrovnik-based specialist. “On top of the best service ever, their price was the most reasonable of all the tour groups I looked into,” he said. Ellen Turner had a similar finding when she booked her Catalonia self guided walking vacation. She found a long-standing specialist based in the area. “Larger tour operators offer a similar itinerary, but this operator can offer a cheaper deal with absolutely no loss of professional service standards,” she said.

You can walk alone or in a group and either can be done inexpensively. Small groups normally have no more than 16 participants, and often a lot fewer. If you’re a solo traveler on a small group trip you may end up sharing a room (or a night under canvas) with another person of the same gender. On self guided walks you may need to spend a little bit of money on public transport to get to the start of your trail – but rest assured you’ll get plenty of support, maps and guidance along the way.

Generally a week is enough time to ramble around a region and really get to know it. Eight days or less fits nicely into a budget bracket, and is relatively kind on your feet. Just because you’re keeping costs low, there’s no need to punish yourself with long days and hard slogs. Many itineraries offer a choice of longer or shorter treks each day. On the other hand, if you want to walk the whole of the Camino de Santiago, you’ll need more than a week, but you still don’t need a big budget.

Ah, the allure of an affordable vacation with kids. Not all walking vacations are suitable for children, but self guided vacations are the way to go, and there are a number of family-friendly budget walks. In France, kids will be enthralled by a walking vacation with your very own donkey porter, carrying your bags. Around Italy’s Lake Como, center-based walking is the way to go, as you can play each day by ear and adapt your walks according to everyone’s mood.